Euric's post below brings me to what I feel is a more important and curious point, my 
question above (in the subject line).  Can anyone answer that, please?  Thanks.

Marcus

On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 20:28:00   
 Chimpsarecute wrote:
>I think the concept of two parts for the day is Biblical.  The Bible makes
>some reference to dark and light parts of the day.
>
>The "dark" part of the day and the "light" part of the day were two parts of
>the same 24 h day.  The daylight part was measured in hours and the
>nighttime part was measured in watches.  By watches, I am referring to
>sentry duty and not clocks worn on the arm.  The light part of the day did
>not begin at midnight, but at sunrise and the dark part of the day started
>at sunset.  Noon time held no special position, other then it being the 6-th
>hour.  At least at the time of Jesus' death.
>
>I'm not sure how much variation there is in the dark hours and the light
>hours as the seasons come and go in the region of Israel/Palestine.  Being
>closer to the equator then most of us, the light and dark parts of the day
>may be only +/- 1 h from solstice to solstice.   In the spring time, the
>light and dark parts are pretty close to 12 h each, give or take.
>
>The odd part is both the 24 h period and the 12 h daylight period are both
>called "day", at least in English.  I don't know if that was true in ancient
>Hebrew.  But I'm sure that adds to the confusion.
>
>Euric
>
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Michael Ossipov" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Thursday, 2004-01-01 19:30
>Subject: [USMA:28081] Calendar, date and time
>
>
>> Does someone if who introduced 12 h plague notation first?
>>
>> If the British Empire did, I don't wonder that such crap can be *only*
>> British.
>>
>> bye
>>
>>
>
>


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